Shut up already

When I see someone talking to him or herself in public I feel a lot of compassion. Thinking, it must be hard to live like that. A compassion that continues for all of us. Because, upon deeper reflection, it’s quickly realized we all talk to ourselves, all the time. With my inner commentary going something like this right now:

“I wonder what I’ll have for breakfast today? Maybe an egg sandwich? Nah, I’ll go out for something. I hope the publisher likes the book. Wow, what nice day, I should go for a walk.”

Imagine for a moment where there was no incessant chatter inside your head, no thought categorizing the world around you or judging a person in front of you. Just peace and quiet. Or, is this too much to ask? We don’t ask our heart to stop beating, do we? So, why ask our brain to stop doing the very thing that allows you to operate in this world? Take a moment and put all your focus on your heart beating. What if you believed this beating heart was all of you? What if this was all you could hear throughout your day? It would certainly change the way you operate, wouldn’t it? Yet, this is what many of us do with our thoughts. Assuming they are us. If we have nice ones we feel great. With the negative ones causing all sorts of hurts.

A better alternative might be an operating system change. What if you stopped believing you were your thoughts? And instead began to believe you were the awareness listening to your thoughts. Keeping your focus in this place, you continue listening to the chatter of your friend the brain but don’t get too invested in anything he/she has to say, realizing their limits. This new found focus on the real you allows you to watch your thoughts as you might watch the traffic below while taking off in an airplane. Creating distance from the noise with an clearer understanding of the bigger picture. As you fly higher, you come to notice something. You can still see your friend speaking, but can’t hear a word. Just you and the peace of quiet. Now, wouldn’t that be nice?